Saturday night, “Orphan Black” returned to BBC America with its fifth season, which is also unfortunately its final season. Sarah and her beloved seestras are back, but this is the final trip, so nothing is off the table.
First off, when we last saw Sarah, she had barely escaped the grips of Rachel, who is more power-hungry than ever. Rachel is moving up in the hierarchy of Neolution, and after nearly killing Sarah and also taking Cosima’s cure, Rachel isn’t leaving anytime soon.
In this first episode, Sarah is deeply wounded post-fight with Rachel, and she is evidently struggling to stay alive on the unsettling Island. She is determined to rescue Cosima, but with only 2 percent battery left on her phone she only manages to get a call out to Felix, whom we’ve all dearly missed.
Meanwhile, Felix is stuck with Ira, the last male clone from Project Castor. Major throwback to the madness of discovering male clones. Felix tries to get answers from Ira, but he’s still reluctant to change sides and realize that Rachel and Susan have abandoned him. Reminder: Rachel stabbed her mother, Susan, and she is now dead. Rachel is on her own, climbing up the power ladder.
Felix then runs into Art at the safe house, where Mrs. S and Kira are nowhere to be found but of course, there’s blood on the floor and a bloody corkscrew, courtesy of Mrs. S. In an attempt to keep the Hendrixes safe, Felix tells them to stay put and watch over Helena, our mighty and very pregnant huntress. Alison is definitely not okay with this plan, and wants to leave and help out, but considering they’re living in a forest, they’re bound to run into trouble.
After Donny and Helena share an endearing moment with loon calls, Helena sounds the emergency call. Several men grab Alison and shame on Donny, who doesn’t even try to save her. Instead, he watches silently and runs away with his suitcase once the men are gone. Helena helps Donny fight off an attacker and then they discover she’s been stabbed in the stomach with a stick. Will this greatly affect her pregnancy?? (I hope she gives birth by the end of the season, even though pregnant Helena is quite the character.)
Back on the island, it’s Sarah against the wild. She’s barely walking, trying to find her way through a forest, while also being tracked by a few men from the village. Cosima, on the other hand, seems to be in a completely different atmosphere. Finally reunited with her love, Delphine, whom we all knew couldn’t really be dead, a significant moment occurs between the two of them. Delphine explains the nature of the scientific work being done in the village, titled Revival, and tells Cosima, “This is the heart of Neolution.” After the long and tumultuous battle through the seasons with Neolutionists, season five brings a new side to the complexity of the science which Neolution is based on. In this self-sustaining village, Cosima who is recovering from the effects of her disease, is also given a tour by a young woman named Mud, but it isn’t until the end of the episode that she faces a potentially dangerous encounter, when Rachel visits Revival.
After both Sarah and Cosima witness Rachel’s speech to the people of Revival, they finally reunite but Cosima claims she cannot leave and that she must follow the science and learn more about Neolution’s work in the village. Subsequently, Cosima struggles to give herself the cure, which involves poking a needle carefully into the uterine wall, no big deal. Rachel finds her in the medical trailer, and shockingly offers kindly to help her out. Cosima is understandably hesitant but allows Rachel to help her with the cure. Rachel admits she’s fully invested in their cause and the mysterious 170-year-old founder of Neolution wants both of them involved. We certainly will learn more about this impending threat and what the founder’s motives are this season.
In the final moments of the episode, Sarah makes her way to the boathouse, attempting to escape the Island. However, there is more at stake with Revival and she cannot be allowed to leave. Sarah is suddenly shot with a tranquilizer from one of the men who was tracking her earlier on. Slowly, from the ground up, Rachel appears once again, reunited with Sarah, and she says to her “It’s a new day, Sarah.”
And indeed my dear Clone Club, it is a new day.
This is the final trip. The final season.
This is the last hello, and get ready for the final goodbyes.
